247 articles
Bombylius major
Bombylius major, the dark-edged or greater bee fly (Linnaeus, 1758), is a hairy, bumblebee-mimicking fly across North America, Europe, and Asia; adults pollinate flowers with a long proboscis, larvae are parasitoids of solitary bees.
Botfly
Botfly: fly whose larvae are obligate parasites of living mammals (Oestridae), including Dermatobia hominis, the human bot fly of Central and South America, whose eggs ride mosquitoes (phoresy) and whose larvae develop under skin for 5-10 weeks.
Brugia malayi
Brugia malayi is a mosquito-borne filarial nematode causing lymphatic filariasis in Southeast Asia, the main cause after Wuchereria bancrofti; sheathed nocturnal microfilariae, Mansonia/Aedes vectors, zoonotic strains, sequenced 110 Mb genome.
Callicera spinolae
Callicera spinolae, the Golden Hoverfly, is a large, rare European hoverfly whose larvae live in water-filled rot holes of living trees; adults fly in September and October.
Calliphoridae
Calliphoridae, the blow flies or bottle flies, is a family of over 1,800 fly species found worldwide, whose carrion-feeding larvae are used to estimate time of death in forensics.
Cecidomyiidae
Cecidomyiidae, the gall midges or gall gnats, is a megadiverse family of Diptera with about 6,600 described species; most Cecidomyiinae larvae are herbivorous gall inducers, others fungivorous or predatory, with paedogenesis in some species.
Cenozoic Diptera
Cenozoic Diptera are fossil flies preserved as compression fossils in Paleogene and Neogene lake sediments rather than amber, known from over 3,100 species at sites like Florissant and Green River.
Cephalops
Cephalops (Fallén, 1810), type species C. aeneus, a cosmopolitan genus of big-headed flies (Pipunculidae) with 178 valid species in 4 subgenera; endoparasitoid larvae attack planthopper and leafhopper nymphs.
Ceratitis capitata
Ceratitis capitata, the Mediterranean fruit fly or medfly, a highly polyphagous tephritid fruit fly from sub-Saharan Africa; larvae infest over 350 host fruits, causing billions in losses worldwide.
Ceratopogonidae
Ceratopogonidae, the biting midges or no-see-ums, is a family of tiny bloodsucking flies with 6,206 extant species in 112 genera; Culicoides vectors bluetongue, African horse sickness, and Oropouche viruses.
Chaoborus
Chaoborus is a genus of non-biting midges whose transparent, neutrally buoyant larvae, known as phantom midges or glassworms, are planktonic predators of freshwater lakes and ponds.
Charles Henry Tyler Townsend
Charles Henry Tyler Townsend (1863–1944), American entomologist and dipterist specializing in Tachinidae; described 1,491 genera and 1,555 species, wrote the 12-volume Manual of Myiology, and settled in Brazil.
Chionea
Chionea, snow flies, wingless crane flies (Limoniidae) active on winter snow in the northern hemisphere; walk at body temperatures to −10°C, self-amputate freezing legs, and use antifreeze proteins and likely mitochondrial heat production.
Chironomidae
Chironomidae, non-biting midges or bloodworms, is a large Diptera fly family with ~7,500 species whose hemoglobin-rich aquatic larvae dominate freshwater benthos and serve as bioindicators and paleoclimate archives.
Chironomus
Chironomus, established in 1803, is a genus of non-biting midges whose blood-red, tube-dwelling larvae live in low-oxygen lake sediments and serve as water-quality indicators and toxicology test organisms.
Chloropidae
Chloropidae, commonly known as grass flies or eye gnats, is a worldwide family of small flies with over 3000 species, including cereal pests like the frit fly.
Clusiidae
Clusiidae (druid flies, formerly Heteroneuridae) is a family of small acalyptrate Diptera, 2.5-6.0 mm, whose larvae develop in wet decaying wood and suck biofilm; about 636 species in 14 genera.
Cluster fly
Cluster fly (Pollenia rudis, Fabricius 1794), a Polleniidae fly whose larvae parasitize earthworms; adults overwinter in buildings in clusters, a cool-season nuisance pest across Holarctic, Oriental and New Zealand regions.
Cochliomyia
Cochliomyia, New World screwworm genus; C. hominivorax (gusano barrenador), obligate flesh-eating Calliphoridae parasite of mammals, eradicated from US 1966 by sterile insect technique, reappeared in Texas June 2026.
Common green bottle fly
Common green bottle fly (Lucilia sericata, formerly Phaenicia sericata), a metallic green Holarctic blow fly whose larvae clean chronic wounds in maggot debridement therapy and estimate post-mortem intervals in forensics.
Compsilura concinnata
Compsilura concinnata (Meigen, 1824) is a European tachinid fly introduced to North America from 1906 to 1986 against gypsy and browntail moths; a multivoltine generalist parasitoid of over 150 Lepidoptera species, implicated in New England saturniid moth declines.
Condylostylus
Condylostylus Bigot, 1859 is a genus of about 350 species of metallic green predatory long-legged flies (Dolichopodidae, Sciapodinae), mostly Neotropical, recognized by wings held at an angle and C-shaped wing bands, with elaborate male leg-display courtship.
Coquillettidia
Coquillettidia (Dyar, 1905) is a mosquito genus in tribe Mansoniini with 58 species in three subgenera; larvae breathe through plant-root aerenchyma via specialized siphons, and Cq. perturbans vectors eastern equine encephalitis virus.
Cordylobia anthropophaga
Cordylobia anthropophaga, the tumbu or mango fly, is an African Calliphoridae blow fly whose larvae cause furuncular myiasis; eggs laid on clothing or sand, larvae penetrate unbroken skin, treated by occlusion or extraction.
Crane flies of Europe
The crane flies of Europe are the Tipuloidea fly species recorded from the continent and its islands: 1,267 described species in four families, with new species still being described.
Crane fly
Crane fly, also called mosquito hawk or daddy longlegs, is a long-legged true fly of the dipteran superfamily Tipuloidea, with 15,726 described species in four families, harmless to humans, whose larvae live in aquatic and soil habitats.
Crane fly anatomy and life history
Crane fly anatomy and life history describes the superfamily Tipuloidea, whose adults have a V-shaped mesonotal suture and whose larvae, leatherjackets, live in soil and water.
Culex
Culex is a cosmopolitan mosquito genus in the Culicidae family. Its species, including Cx. pipiens, are key vectors for arboviruses like West Nile and St. Louis encephalitis.
Culicoides
Culicoides biting midges (Ceratopogonidae), genus erected by Latreille 1809; 1–3 mm blood-feeding flies, over 1,400 species worldwide, primary vectors of bluetongue, African horse sickness, and Oropouche viruses.
Culiseta
Culiseta (Felt, 1904), formerly Theobaldia, is the sole genus of mosquito tribe Culisetini, with 42 extant and 3 fossil species in seven subgenera; large Culex-like mosquitoes including Cs. melanura, an EEE surveillance species, and Cs. annulata, first found in Iceland in 2025.